Pokemon: The CherryDrifters
by Kracie
Summary: Irelyss was simply to take the train and pick up a Pokemon from the Lab at CherryDrift City then return home. Upon waiting for her train back home something stopped her; it wasn't a dangerous Pokemon, nor a dastardly team, nor an ominous presence. What had stopped her... was her heart.


Chapter 1: A Meeting of Hearts

Irelyss sat on the station's bench cradling her Pokeball alongside the half-spent round-trip train ticket waiting, impatiently, for her train. Had her heart been a timer, the minutes that passed by would've been hours based on the count of her heart. The endless shuffling and shifting in her seat were finally put at ease when the first calls for her ride came on the speakers. Irelyss snapped her Pokeball onto one of the six sockets of the Pokebracer she had on her left arm— a souvenir of her trip to the big city—and readied her ticket.

 _Badump Badump Badump_

But while everyone else was making their way into the train Irelyss stumbled upon a small problem, her legs wouldn't budge; nothing was amiss with them physically and they definitely weren't asleep—she knew that for sure because she could feel the rabid thumping of her heart all the way down to her legs—and with every beat she could feel the blood coursing through her body making her feel lighter with each pulse. The final calls rang and the urge to stand up and run into the train pent within her but there was another urge there too, a very peculiar one; one that made her, with all that strength, latch onto her seat and held as tightly as she can, making sure that she stayed glued onto that bench.

 _Badump Badump Badump_

The long hours of her heart pulsed while she sat until eventually she couldn't control herself any longer; she sprung off her seat and ran after the train—but the train was already ahead of her, running much faster than her and showed no sign of slowing down. Eventually it didn't matter if she could run faster though; the station's walls had stopped her and she found herself pressed against a window… looking at the distant train… and her own reflection. Instant regret had hit her; instant homesickness, instant not knowing what to do, instant tears drizzling down her eyes, instant raising of her hands to cover her face and pretend she's not some sort of weirdo crying onto a wall while people stared at her, instant… hearing of something something weird about the Pokeball on her wrist when she covered her face; it was making a making a faint sound. She pressed the ball closer onto her ears and listened.

 _Badump Badump Badump_

It was her Pokemon! Irelyss listened closer… and closer… and closer still. She listened for how loud the beats were, how fast they were, but mostly for how similar they were to her very own and realized deep down why she had taken the train to CherryDrift City in the first place; she didn't simply want to come to the lab, pick up the Pokemon and then go home—her parents could've done that and saved her the trouble; but she wanted something more out of the trip.

 _Badump Badump Badump_

Irelyss knew what she wanted now. She swept her eyes of what little tears were still in her eyes and left the train station. Before she was even a couple steps away from the doors of the station, she unclipped the Pokeball from the Pokebracer and threw it as high into the sky; when the ball landed, out came a red flash of light that quickly began shaping into something else; a little green cat with a large-dark-green maple leaf growing right under its neck and a bush of simpler leaves protruding at the end of its tail. The Pokemon purred out its name. Grylis.

 _Badump Badump Badump_

Irelyss and Grylis stared at each other; their hearts were in sync. Both of them could sense the feeling that had ALMOST just escaped them mere moments ago make its way towards them. The two of them nodded at one another and braced for feeling that was coming ever closer towards them.

 _Badump Badump Badump_

It was a boy. The very boy Irelyss had been paired up with earlier at the lab was walking in her direction. She had traded the opportunity to go back home for this one. And she knew that if she let this one go too, there'd be nothing left for her; no train ticket to go home, no goals for what to do in this mess she was stuck in; no nothing. She had to take this chance no matter what. Irelyss straightened herself, lifted her head high, and looked the boy right in his eyes!

 _Badump Badump Badump_

"I CHALLENGE YOU TO A POKEMON BATTLE!" She yelled.

"GRYLIS!" and so did her Pokemon.

* * *

The Fakedex

* * *

Tierok Pokedex

Entry Number: 1

Name: Grylis

Pronunciation: grī lis

Category: Leaf Lion (Cub)

Type: Grass

Summary: When hunting, it'll hide inside of a bush while keeping its tail within another. It'll breeze its tail when a prey comes near and if they focus their attention on the lure, it pounces on the unaware prey.

* * *

Settlement

Current Name: CherryDrift City

The largest city of Tierok, CherryDrift City, is most well-known for the cherry trees that decorate its streets and the vast amount of trainers that begin their Pokemon journeys drifting alongside the petals of its blossom.

* * *

Author Notes

* * *

This story may be subject to change on my discretion. Any changes will be noted at the start of the latest chapter, whether the changes were from a previous chapter or many chapters ago.

The only Fakemon within the story will be only the "starter" Pokemon within the region of Tierok. All other Pokemon will be ones found within the core series of games.


End file.
